The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has expressed an intent to continue to seek a new mechanism to monitor the enforcement of UN sanctions on North Korea even if Russia and China attempt to block such efforts. 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield revealed the stance on Wednesday during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul as she reiterated the need to continuously monitor any attempts to evade sanctions on the North. 

Her comment came as an expert panel tasked with monitoring the enforcement of UN sanctions on the North will see its term expire at the end of this month after Russia vetoed a UN resolution to renew the mandate of the panel. China abstained from the vote.

The ambassador said Russia and China will continuously seek to block efforts to keep the monitoring panel in place before mentioning that Russia is already violating such sanctions by engaging in military cooperation with the North while backing the reclusive state. She also mentioned China’s support of North Korea.

Saying she believes a mechanism to continue such reporting will be found, Thomas-Greenfield said she doesn’t expect Moscow and Beijing will cooperate or agree with any efforts toward “finding another path,” but added that this is not going to stop the U.S.’ efforts to find such a path. 

The U.S. ambassador to the UN will wrap up her four-day stay in South Korea on Wednesday and head to Japan. 

She is the first U.S. ambassador to the UN to visit South Korea since October 2016.